IDRC is organizing three events surrounding the 54^th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women March 3, 8, and 10 in New York.

1) Vision for a Better World: From Economic Crisis to Equality

The Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and the Permanent Mission of Nicaragua to the United Nations, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), are co-hosting a panel at the 54th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Time: 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Venue: United Nations North Lawn Building, Conference Room C

Although much progress has been made since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 15 years ago, women’s roles, values, and leadership in the global economy has neither been fully understood nor incorporated into policy.

The current global recession has revealed stark evidence of the gender differentiated impact of the crisis, women’s economic vulnerability, and the flaws in the valuation of their contributions. In the wake of the continuing fall-out from the financial crisis, many voices are calling for a drastic shift in the economic reasoning, measures, and triggers that define economic policy at the national, regional and international levels.

The panel will include presentations by members of the Casablanca network (www.casablanca-dream.net), an informal group of women thinkers and activists founded in 2007 to rethink and construct a new framework for ushering in a just global economy, and an economic program which will enable women to walk out of poverty.

2) Democratic Governance and Women's Rights

The Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations in collaboration with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are co-hosting a side event at the 54th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Date: Monday, March 8, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Venue: United Nations North Lawn Building, Conference Room C

Democratic governance is a key element in achieving equitable and sustainable development. Yet much of the existing research and literature on democratic systems addresses neither how women’s political participation contributes to democratic processes and outcomes, nor how this form of governance advances women’s rights and gender equality.

At this session, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda will present the new Caribbean Institute for Women in Leadership (CIWIL). IDRC will launch its global research initiative on Democratic Governance, Women’s Rights, and Gender Equality.

This initiative will support Southern-based researchers to examine women’s political citizenship and how democratic governance systems respond to women’s rights, needs, and priorities. Panelists will explore these issues at the global and regional levels. The Huairou Commission will discuss its work on strengthening grassroots women’s participation in decision-making processes, and local government responsiveness to community priorities. UNDP will present its work on gender and democratic governance, and women in politics. It will also launch a new regional report on women’s political participation in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

3)  Gendered Terrain: Women's Rights and Access to Land

Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is hosting a panel at the NGO Forum of the 54th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Venue: UN Church Center, 777 United Nations Plaza, 11th Floor

Access to land is critical to advancing women’s economic rights in the developing world. Where laws exist to protect women’s right to own land, they may come into direct conflict with gendered power relations that govern ownership, control over, and access to land.

This panel will examine issues such as why women are landless; the social and legal structures that shape land tenure regimes and mediate women’s land rights; access to land as both a cause and effect of women’s marginalization; and the role of the state in according women land rights through land reform.

Panelists will present key research findings from IDRC-supported projects in Pakistan, Senegal, and Eastern and Southern Africa. They will also offer recommendations to policymakers and practitioners seeking to redress women’s unequal access to land.

Land Tenure, Gender, and Globalization, a co-publication of IDRC and Zubaan Books will also be launched. This book, based on IDRC-supported research, explores the relationship between gender and land in six countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, revealing the workings of global capital and people’s responses to it.